Journal of general internal medicine
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Comparative Study
A Comparison of Individuals with Diabetes and EMPA-REG Trial Participants: Exploring Aspects of External Validity.
There is increasing use of sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors to treat diabetes. Since trials apply specific entry and exclusion criteria to ensure internal validity, comparisons of trial populations with nationally representative samples can inform the applicability of study findings to practice. ⋯ The EMPA-REG population differed from a nationally representative sample, which could affect generalizability.
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Residents planning careers in primary care have unique training needs that are not addressed in traditional internal medicine training programs, where there is a focus on inpatient training. There are no evidence-based approaches for primary care training. ⋯ A primary care training program that provides clinical immersion in the ambulatory setting improved educational outcomes for trainees and clinical outcomes for their patients. Providing more training in the ambulatory environment should be a priority in graduate medical education.
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Academic health centers (AHCs) face unique challenges in providing continuity to a medically and socially complex patient population. Little is known about what drives patient loss in these settings. ⋯ Younger patient age, markers of social vulnerability, and physician transiency are associated with patient loss at AHCs, providing targets to improve continuity of care within these settings.
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Spousal death is associated with elevated mortality in the surviving partner; less is known about how healthcare costs and use change following spousal death. ⋯ Spousal death increased total Medicare costs and use of all healthcare categories among the surviving partner; elevations in hospitalization and sub-acute care persisted through the third year. Clinicians and payors may want to target surviving partners as a high-risk population.
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Healthcare encounters for the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common and represent an opportunity to discuss and initiate HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Little is known about how frequently PrEP is discussed and initiated in association with encounters for STIs. ⋯ Discussion and initiation of PrEP were rare following healthcare encounters for STIs. Interventions are needed to improve low rates of sexual history-taking and discussion of PrEP during healthcare encounters for STIs.